Monday, May 03, 2010

Cinco de Mayo

May 5th, also happens to be my buddy Rawbin's birthday (here she is pictured with Jeff and myself last summer; she's the one with the cute braids), which we like to recognize by going out for guacamole earlier (or later) in the week to avoid the crowds. Then, on the big day, we can chill at home with some simple Cinco de Mayo-inspired meals.

Taco salad was always a staple at the family picnics I attended growing up. It usually had a base of chopped romaine leaves, sliced cucumber and cherry tomatoes. There was also taco meat (a good raw substitute is soaked walnuts and almonds processed together with nama shoyu or Bragg's liquid aminos, a drizzle of olive oil and taco spices like cumin, coriander, chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic and sea salt; I find that adding some sage or poultry seasoning makes it taste more "meaty"), cheese (I use shredded carrot instead) and Catalina dressing (I don't know why Catalina dressing, but that's what everyone always used to make it with back then; I rawified the dressing recipe for you below). Toss it all together with some raw chips and you've got yourself a fiesta in a bowl. Yum!